dot hack Infection Expansion
by Fabula
Summary: [.hack Infection] Kite's tale retold. Act 1: Infection Expnsion.
1. Chapter 1

_.hack//Infection Expansion_

_Chapter 1_

_Log in_

"Got any homework Yasuhiko?" I asked my fried.

"Come on, you know all my teachers are out to get me! Of course I have homework, and lots of it. By the way did you finally get it?" Yasuhiko has always been bothering me about getting this game called **The World**. Though it's the main reason that he's been lagging in work. I guess misery loves company. "You're thinking less of me aren't you?"

"Wouldn't think about it Yasa." I laughed weakly; we were so close we could almost tell what the other is thinking. "I promise I'll log in tonight as long as that first two months free thing holds up, my parents won't pay up like your do."

"Jeez you make me sound spoiled." Maybe a little. "I bet you think I'm spoiled…" Scary…

I booted up my computer. It's seven pm. Creating account. Starting character creation. Class? Uhh, what does the manual say? Uhh, Swordmaster? Wavemaster? Ah, geek lingo is so confusing! Okay just pick at random. Twin Blade, that doesn't sound bad. Okay, customized avatars, green travelers cloths, back pack, holster belt, I guess this looks cool? I know, a hat. Okay. Name: Kite. And Log in.

_Loading: (Delta) Mac Anu_

The sound of running water, and the town music came up. It's quite soothing. I can just stand here for hours. "Yo, noob!" I guess peace can wait…

"Who's calling who a noob?" I turned around and the guy behind me was huge! I felt like a mouse by comparison.

"It's me, Yasa. Only, call me Orca." Yasuhiko!

"When did you get buff! And your voice is way different." He looked at me like I was stupid.

"It's an avatar. I made it look buff. And the voice is a sound-morpher. You don't look too different from what you o in the real world, aside from the blue hair and the dorkish clothing. I mean come on, green?" I'll get him for that.

"You're covered in green tattoos!" The guy walks around without a shirt and half his body is green. In fact all he wore were leg, shoulder, and waist armor. He looked like something out of Scotland.

"Ya, well I can pull it off, you can't…besides no one would dare argue with me. I'm Orca of the Azure Sea! I'm famous and that makes you the friend of a famous player. Consider yourself paparazzi target number one." He made it sound like a good thing.

"Well then Mr. Sea, show me how to play the game." He smiled.

"Now were talking! Here, I'll show you how to operate the chaos gate. Just pick the words on the screen and based on your selection you can go to just about anywhere you want. Before we go we'll form the party. The place we're going to is Bursting Passed Over Aqua Field." He told me about registering member addresses and forming parties. Then I picked the words and we went.

_Loading: (Delta) Bursting Passed Over Aqua Field_

The field changed to a savanna. I saw a yellow floating glyph in front of me. "That's a magic portal, approach it and monsters appear. I'll show you how to fight." I walked toward it and a goblin appeared. Apparently my weapon are knives. Well, I did pick at random. I followed Yasuhiko's instruction on how to fight and use skills. "And there you have it. Hey, why did you choose twin blade? There not exactly the most popular class."

"I didn't know what I was picking, so I just chose randomly." He made one of those appalled gasps like I said something mean. He then went on about the workings of every class. Blademaster (what he is) are well-rounded swordsman. Heavyblades use two-handed swords and have good attack but less speed. Axmen use axes and have even more attack and less speed. Wavemasters are just magic-users. Long arms use spears and have attack and range in exchange for magic. And then there's me, the twin blade. No range, mediocre attack, just speed. "You done ranting?"

"Hardly, but I don't want to overwhelm you. So, let's take on the dungeon. Every field, except for event fields, have a dungeon, so let's get going." I swear he loves the sound of his morphed voice.

The dungeon had a whole different vibe from anything I've seen yet. It felt creepy and ominous. "Ready?" I answered meekly with a ya.

Inside Yasa went over the mechanics of treasure boxes while examined the wall in front of me. I could hear something. I looked down the corridor. I saw a girl in white just floating there. She was staring intently at Yasa. A fan? "Yasa?"

"I said call me Orca!" He saw the girl. She then ran off. We saw a monster chasing her. A golem carrying a staff crucifix.

"What a cool looking monster! Though what's with the girl Ya- I mean Orca?" He stared at me intently.

"Let's just get to the Gott statue room?" I look at him with confusion, he could tell I wasn't paying attention to his treasure explanation. "The room with the best treasure." Oh.

After dungeon crawling we made it to a room with a floating statue and a treasure box. I opened it. "I got Iron Blades."

"Better weapon then your current one. Let's go." We both walked out of the room. _Ping._ The next moment, we were somewhere completely different.

It looked like a graveyard. I could see a floating church nearby. Everywhere here seemed so hallowed. The girl in white appeared out of no where. She had long white hair and a long white dress. She looked at Orca. "Take this." She handed him a brown book. "The power it holds can bring forth either salvation…or destruction, at the whim of the user." Is this some kind of event?

"This is…" Orca looked surprised. The girl disappeared. She said that something is coming. The monster that chased her appeared.

At closer inspection, it did look like a golem, but some parts were not connected, like it was just a bunch of floating rocks that made a human like form. He had three dots for what could be eyes on its misshapen head that made a kinda-triangle. It had eight floating swords behind it. And two horns growing out of its heads that curved back, horns so devilish.

"You have to get out of here. Run Now!" Yasuhiko charged the monster, it nimbly avoided every attack and counteracted by hitting him with its crucifix staff. I could only watch, something about this field made me so scared. The whole tone of it, and seeing my friend slowly lose to this monster. Then I heard this sound, like glass breaking.

Yasuhiko slowly rose into the air. The staff of the monster appeared behind him as he was pinned to it. I saw him struggling, trying to break the invisible bonds, then the monster pointed it's palm at him, a blue bracelet appeared, and a beam of light shot at Yasuhiko, I heard him scream, telling me to run as fast as I can. His avatar disappeared, leaving only the book as it disappeared as well. The monster then pointed the bracelet at me. I could feel the sweat in my palm, as the controller slipped out of my hand, but I couldn't reach down and pick it up.

A white staff appeared out of nowhere, and shot out this wave that made me black out. The last words I was before coming to from it, were System Error.

---to be continued------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A non cannon re telling, however apart from the regular plot, their will be many changes, such as the phases. Skeith now has the floating sword thing from gu vol.3, however while his staff is the same (the q thing we got in America was a censorship of his real staff, an actual cross to crucify his victims). His body is sleeker in my version, however I can't properly describe it so bear with me. Next Chapter Kite will get his famous bracelet!


	2. Chapter 2

_.hack//Infection Expansion_

_Chapter 2_

_Data Drain_

When I came to, my head was on the keyboard. I was back at my desktop menu on my computer for some reason. There was a new message in my e-mail.

_Dear User,_

_Do to a system crash __**THE WORLD**__ will be temporarily offline._

_We thank you for your patience and we are working to rectify the bugs._

_Sincerely,_

_C.C. Corp_

A crash? I guess that's enough for today. I need to call Yasa.

"Hello is Yasuhiko there? This is his friend." I could hear crying on the other-side. His mother said that he was recently admitted to a hospital for falling in a coma. "I see, thank you." Nothing bad can happen, I woke up. Yasa will be up in time for school on Monday…he will…

One week has passed, and Yasa hasn't woken up. Everyday after school I go to see him. Every time, it felt strange, seeing him all weak in bed. Yasa had always been the strong one of the two of us. The soccer champ, the Azure Sea, but I was their, and we watched each other grow up…

When I got home had a new e-mail message.

_Dear User,_

_**The World**__ is now fully operational. _

_We are sorry for any inconveniences caused by the temporary down._

_Sincerely,_

_C. C. Corp_

**The World**...That was the last time I saw Yasuhiko…so that is were I will find him…log in.

_Loading: (Delta) Mac Anu_

I open my eyes again in the water capital. I can hear footsteps behind me. A girl with tan skin, white hair, purple leather pants, and purple chest armor was walking around in a fidgety matter. She looked weird doing it. "Hey!" What? "You know staring at someone like that is rude. It's the same in this world as it is in the real world. Got that! So apologize." Uh-wha. "Well, last chance. Apologize or not." She completely overwhelmed me to the point I lost my words. She walked away in a zig-zaggish manner.

I asked around the town about people in comas. Most people said if I was getting too into the rumors board. Some people said that they never heard of comas. Whenever I described the girl, people just said the girl was a rumor like the upside-down man…whoever that is. When I described the monster people just laughed and said it was an event monster most likely. No matter who I asked, they just told me it was all in my head.

I guess I will go back to the area were we saw the monster, Bursting Passed Over Aqua Field.

_Loading: (Delta) Bursting Passed Over Aqua Field_

There's nothing here, not even monsters. The dungeon was also bare of everything. It was deserted. If this was real, I probably would have felt the winds of emptiness. I went back to the town.

_Loading__Delta) Mac Anu_

Nothing…all of this was for nothing. I stared at the floor in failure. "Hey!" Huh. "Rude guy." That girl from earlier.

"Yes?" I answered

"Oh so you can talk…" eh…

"You're good at the game, right?" I don't know how to answer.

"Not exactly, I just started a week ago." Though the game had just been down for a week.

"Okay. Take me with you to a special place." What?

"Uhm, I…" Well…

"Well, aren't you going to be a proper gentleman and escort this young lady?" Yasuhiko always said I was bad with talking to girls.

"Uhh, yes?" What did I just say…

"Right on, the words are Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground." Interesting words. We exchanged member addresses and formed the party. I chose the words and we warped.

_Loading: (Delta) Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground_

The first field I picked, the one with Yasuhiko, we went to a savanna, now I'm in front of a cathedral with an empty lake all around us. The door to the cathedral was open, accepting all into its hallowed halls. "Well…aren't you going to escort me." (sigh).

When we entered it looked like any other church, but up on front there was a statue of a girl, chained to the wall. When I looked real close, it resembled the girl that gave Yasuhiko the book. The both of us walked up to the front. There was a plate with names on the pedestal the girl was chained on. "Skeith, Innis, Magus, Fid-ehh I can't read the rest. It looks incomplete." The girl simply sighed.

We stayed there for a few minutes, not once could I take my eyes off the statue that resembled that mysterious girl. All of a sudden, a man with white hair, heavy blue armor, and white wings entered. He looked saw us. "Leave now!"

"What, just what the hell are you doing here for?" The girl answered.

"I'm telling you know that you have to leave!" The man answered. All of a sudden, the color shifted in the room. A monster started crawling out of a hole in space. When the hole closed and color returned to normal, the monster stood up. It was a set of green armor with a sword and carrying a sword. "A headhunter?" The man quickly cut the monster in two as if it was nothing. But, the monster reformed itself, it was covered in a green aura.

"What the hell, that thing should be dead!" The girl looked distraught. I can't take all of this. Even I felt like something was crawling in my skin, looking at the aura that surrounded the monster.

"This monster is infected with a virus. Because of this it has infinite HP. It can't be killed so leave now!" The man yelled.

"I found it…because of this…I'LL KILL YOU!" The girl charged.

"No, leave it be. THAT THING IS DANGEROUS!"

Yasuhiko…A monster not quite right…is it going to happen again.

_The book, open the book. _The Book?_ The power it holds can bring forth either salvation…or destruction, at the whim of the user. _I have…Yasuhiko's book…

_Kite used the item: Book of Twilight._

All at once everything went white. I saw the book open before me. My right arm was jerked before me as a great light enveloped it. My arm felt bound, like greater powers were trying to imbed something. Then, I saw what these greater powers wanted to imbed. The blue bracelet that was used against Yasuhiko. It was materializing on my arm. My whole body felt like it was thrown into a hurricane. The book disappeared, but the white realm didn't go away. I saw the monster with the green aura. My arm targeted to get hot. Instantly, against my will, the bracelet aimed at the monster and fired, the same ill beam that was against Yasuhiko. The monster took the beam, and was instantly vaporized.

The winged man and the girl saw at the results of my attack. The winged man took out his sword and pointed it at me. "What was that!" I couldn't answer. "Well, tell me. You're a hacker aren't you, you're the reason for the corruption aren't you, you're the reason for the coma victims aren't you!" What, no.

"No, that's not me…I…" I…

"You know, is that how you respond to someone who saves your life? You should be thanking him, not putting him down like that…" Thank you.

"Listen, you may not be aware of it, but **The World **has been degrading in certain areas. This is the result of hackers. If I find out, you are in with them…I wont hesitate to kill you." Kill…kill…

He left without saying a word. I looked at the girl that defended me.

"Thank you." She smiled

"You did save us. Hey, did your avatar change?" I looked at myself. My cloths are now red, and my pants had yellow markings. The bracelet was now invisible. "That was really incredible, what you just did."

"This power…put my best friend in a coma…" I explained the story to her.

"I see. Well, don't give up. I'll help you." Help, this isn't your struggle.

"I can't let you do this. You have nothing to do with this. You could…" fall into a coma yourself.

"I won't accept no for an answer. You know, we haven't introduced ourselves officially. I'm Ak-…I'm Blackrose, a heavyblade." Blackrose.

"I'm Kite, a twinblade." In this game that is.

"I see. Well, I'm logging off for now. Hope to see you again soon." Farewell. I logged off as well.

---to be continued------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Another chapter. Close to the story for the most part. The next chapter will introduce Mia and Endr-I mean Elk…**


	3. Chapter 3

_.hack//Infection Expansion_

_Chapter 3_

_Breaking Glass_

"What is the answer to the problem?" Yasuhiko was justified that teachers are out for their students…

Today, I didn't see Yasa after school; it's gotten to depressing, watching him like that. I logged into **The World**.

_Loading: (Delta) Mac Anu_

I overheard two players talking about a girl with a cat-like avatar.

_I hear she's in the back ally, I didn't think you could edit like that._

_Really, I prefer bunny girls._

_You pervert…_

Uh, well. I should investigate abnormal things…

In the back ally I saw two people talking, a blue robed boy with silver hair, and a purple-furred anthropomorphic cat in green armor. The boy talked first. "Hey Mia, I found a great place with lots of aromatic grass!"

"Really, let's go Elk." Elk and Mia. The two turned and saw me. Mia talked first. "Hmm…! That's a unique bracelet." What!

"You can see it?" How's that possible?

"Yes, are you trying to tell me that you can't see this fine bracelet?" Well, ya…"Well, even if you can't see it, you know it's their, and that's what matters."

"Ya, I suppose so." The bracelet will always be there now.

"Well, thank you for showing me, your very nice bracelet. Come Elk." She ran off. Her friend, Elk looked at me funny and followed. What an odd couple. Lol…I think I've been playing a bit much.

After a few minutes of just standing I was alerted that Blackrose logged in. She sent me a message asking if I was up for a test.

"Hey Kite. Have you checked the boards? A place with creepy graphics and a monster no one can kill!" Is it the golem! "I see you catch on quick. So, are we going?"

"Monsters like that can't be left alone…I have to use this bracelet to stop it…" The power that put Yasuhiko in a…

"The area is Monster Gluttons Maw." I entered the words.

_Loading: (Delta) Monster Gluttons Maw_

The area looked like a dark wasteland. The sky looked like it was ripped to pieces, exposing the green grid underneath. The entrance to the dungeon looked like a near submerged giant. His mouth was the entrance! "You go first…"

"You go first…" It was like this for a while.

When we finally entered (I went first…) we made are way to the end of the dungeon. "You've been training."

"I need to get stronger if we want to go forward…" She's serious about this.

When we reached the end, the doorway before us seemed to flow with area corruption.

We saw it, another headless monster carrying a skull with the same creepy green aura. I tried to call upon the bracelet, but nothing. It was still and the monster was coming at us. "I can't get the bracelet to work!" The monster attacked, how can we defeat the immortal without the bracelet!

We had been fighting, for ten minutes. It was as if we did nothing. Nothing turned in are favor. It was relentless. This can't be happening, if it kills us, we will fall into comas! "Kite, is this were it ends?" No…no…I can't stop now.

"_Rai Don_!" A lightning spell hit the monster and it was stunned. "Attack now!" A voice told us. I now it's futile but Blackrose and I attacked. The monster looked confused somehow. I could hear glass breaking. The bracelet felt hot. The same white space appeared as, against my will, the bracelet appeared, vaporizing the monster.

_Kite obtained: V1RUS CORE_

Virus core? What is this? "COOOL!" In the heat of battle, I never noticed that the voice was that of a little girl. She looked like a wavemaster with the wand and had white robes with blue lines and a hat that kind of drooped on both sides. "What was that?"

"Uh…a skill?" Not even I know.

"So cool, and that monster had weird graphics. At first it looked like a regular headhunter enemy." Regular? "So what are your names? I'm Mistral!" Such a…high pitched voice.

"I'm Blackrose and this is Kite. What do you mean by a regular enemy?" I felt kind of noobish.

"It was a headhunter, a regular low level enemy. Nothing to worry about, especially with that skill." Skill…

"Can you tell me about an enemy that looks like a golem with a red staff and eight floating swords?" Anything at all.

"Wow, never heard of anything like that. I got the perfect guidebook and never remembered reading about that kind of enemy." Nothing. What we've been dealing with is small fry compared to that thing. "Hey, I'll give you my member address, show me that cool skill again sometime!" I accepted it without a second thought. Though in my kind of quest, she needs to be kept out of. "Okay bye bye."

"An eccentric kind of girl, huh." Ya.

"I suppose, but now we know that these things have nothing to do with my real target." Was this meaningless.

"I'm going to log out. See ya when I do." Same here.

I have new e-mail.

_Dear Little Boy,_

_I thought I would relate some important information to you. As of now, you will be the center of **The World**._

_The skill that you have, and the skill that put your friend in a coma, is called data drain._

_Data Drain can only be done during certain times, but upon observations, it is characterized by the sound of glass breaking, something only the wielder of the bracelet may hear._

_How this occurs we are still investigating, but as far as we can tell performing the data bugs (the monsters with green auras) weakness raises the probability of protect break (the sound of glass breaking)._

_Your bracelet also seems to be evolving, in a sense (proof in the acquisition of virus cores). It may do some unnatural things. _

_We will be watching you, and so will everyone else._

_With deep interest,_

_Helba._

_PS: Your own body will experience unnatural things as you take devour __**The Worlds**__ infection._

Who is this person, but now I have some new information, but what did she mean by that last part.

At school, I was playing soccer, I was playing soccer. The ball was coming at me and I prepared to get it, but my body stopped moving, I was paralyzed! The ball went through and my team mates asked what happened, but I was just happy it wore off…what is going on?

---to be continued------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**I know that those arent the proper key words but deal with it...please review.**


	4. Chapter 4

_.hack//Infection Expansion_

_Chapter 4_

_Breaking Ground_

Ever sine my temporary paralysis I have been on edge. Only Blackrose knows about my quest, and no one else. It feels like I'm leading a double life. Not even my parents know about this. To me there is the time in school when I'm this normal school boy, and then I get home and I'm Kite, the bearer of the bracelet. I have new e-mail.

_Dear Owner of the Bracelet,_

_You have peaked my interest. Your bracelet caries a very familiar sent in it that makes all the more attracted to you. _(…that can be…misinterpreted…)

_So, let's see if you are worthy of that bracelet and my admiration. Go to (delta) Breaking Away Reality alone. If you can clear the special boss at the end, then I'll teach you something that you may find useful._

_And So,_

_Mia_

Mia? The girl with the cat like pc. And what does she mean by caries a sent. But, can I take on a dungeon alone. I've only gone on one training session with Blackrose. I guess I forgot that this is still a game, bound to the rules of a game. Log in.

_Loading: (delta) Mac Anu_

Can I really clear a dungeon myself? I have to try.

_Loading: (delta) Breaking Away Reality_

The field looked like a desert, another infinite field…nothing special, but the sky had the same torn look as the one were we met Mistral. The level of the field was one lower then mine, but dungeons are always harder.

I had never really experienced soloing, Blackrose is usually on at the same time as me. Monsters were getting progressively harder. It felt like I was running a gauntlet, and then theirs the boss Mia talked about. Could it be, another Data Bug as Helba calls them. At the end, my suspicions were confirmed, another Data Bug.

"Well what will you do, Bearer?" Mia and her friend Elk were waiting outside of the room. I will fight. The monster had a weakness for water according to the status screen. I used a _Rue Kruz_ scroll and hit its weakness. I heard the sound of breaking glass and the bracelet felt hot. Data Drain activated and the monster was vaporized. "You passed."

"I did…another data bug. Did you just bring me here to take care of the data bug?" Just this.

"No, I do have something I would like to teach you." Teach me? "Before I teach you. Remember this: In order for something to be born, something must break." What could that mean?

_Loading: (Delta) Mac Anu_

Back in the root town. "Are you ready?" She asked me.

"Yes." I said.

"Good. As you know, some places are sealed off by system administrators. Your bracelet can already over-ride monsters. Let's see you over-ride the system." The system! "On the forums, there is a rumor at vast endless sea of sand. It was closed, and that a monster with a red wand was playing tag with a girl in white." That's! "Use the Bracelet." I will.

_Loading: (Delta) Vast Endless Sea of Sand_

_Error: This area is prohibited to enter_

No, I won't stop!

_Error:…override…_

_Loading: (Delta) Vast Endless Sea of Sand_

We made it…but this place. The area looked like it was being torn in half with the level of corruption. The graphics in the sky were almost all gone, and the field was slowly degrading. "This place."

"Yes, it is very torn up. Places like this often have a data bug or two somewhere. However, they could also house secrets. CC corp. doesn't want people poking around were they could get in trouble." How does she know about Data Bugs and the bracelet's abilities? "Well, shall we begin searching?" Yes.

We searched the whole field and the dungeon and ran across two data bugs. The Elk, Mia's companion, healed us, but never spoke once. "This place appears to be clear, and nothing special was found. Bearer, do you consider this a waste of time?" Do I?

"Well…no. Data bugs are still dangerous right?"

"Right. The bracelet chose a good bearer." It chose me?

We departed ways when we returned to root town. It was obvious that Mia cares more about the bracelet then me. I was alerted that Blackrose had logged in.

"Hey, found out anything interesting?" She asked me.

"Yes." I told her about what Mia taught me. "What about you?"

"Well I went out and bought anything about **The World**. You know, strategy guides, cheat books, geek stuff. Well I found nothing about bracelets like that, golems with floating swords, and green aura monsters." Nothing.

"Sounds like a blow to your purse." I joked.

"Hey, juggling tennis practice, a job, school, and Blackrose is not the easiest thing in **The World** lol…Man I'm using geek lingo now."

"Lol…if it makes you feel better I have soccer practice and I'm a first year."

"A first year, I'm a second year. Take that!" She's older then me!

"Your older then me!"

"Ya, got a problem with that." We continued to talk about our own personal lives. Somewhere along the way we lost track of time. Log out.

"Hey, pass the ball!" More soccer practice. I was about to pass the ball…_black out._

I can, here sirens.

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Next chapter involves a surprise form .hack//zero.


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